The Later Ages: The Second Coming
by CRYScrystalda
Summary: Sequel to The Later ages, (Sorry that took so long) please read.


I let out a throaty war cry and brought my short-sword slicing down. NME looked up at exactly the wrong moment . . . for him. The timing was perfect for me. The unfamiliar blade sank deep into his forehead, slicing neatly between his eyes. He cried out in shock, and his eyes widened. His skull slowed me down for a moment, as did his horned skull Crown. But I continued pushing into his bone . . ..  
  
His eyes rolled up into his head, red and unreadable, and dark, Dark Matter sprayed from the new hole I had sliced into his head. Much of it hit me, and I struggled for a moment with it. It seemed to swallow me like a living thing, for just a second, and then it fell limp to the floor like a black puddle.  
  
(Magnum did not at that moment realize that the liquid was actually Dark Matter . . . . and that the Dark Matter was really NME's true essence. He also didn't realize that it ceased to live because it had poured IT'S life into HIM. He carried the seeds of the next, greater evil . . . For he had proven he was stronger than this current darkness . . . but the brighter the light, the deeper the shadow.)  
  
NME stared lifelessly up at me, with blank, crimson eyes. He crumpled beneath me, and fell from his throne. He lay next to the strange Black liquid, and both began to evaporate. I sighed, and drifted to the floor. The warp star shrank again, and I pocketed it. I felt suddenly drained: both emotionally and physically. I had expected some huge battle, lasting for hours on end. It had been so short. But it was over. Wasn't it?  
  
I trekked through the quiet building. It seemed everyone was dead. Where had NME's soldiers gone, all of the troops that hadn't been exterminated? I thought back to the crew of the "Federation II." "They'll take care of that . . ." I thought to myself. But then WHY did I doubt that so strongly?  
  
I found my way out of the strange building, and ran straight into Cinsta. "What are you doing here?!" I asked surprised. He blinked and stared up at me from where he had fallen. "I'm here to help." He told me.  
  
"Your too late, Cinsta." I replied. "It's all over. You came several moments too late."  
  
He glanced past me into the bare hallway, as if expecting some great threat to jump up and destroy us. "You mean, NME's already dead?" He asked. I nodded. "Yes." He sighed.  
  
"Oh well . . ." he murmured. I laughed for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was a very unused sounding laughter. I was shocked at how much I sounded like Meta Knight right then. "You sound disappointed!" I chuckled. He laughed weakly along with me. Then he turned away. "Um, Magnum, I have some bad news . . ."  
  
I stopped laughing. "Continue . . .?" I murmured. "It's, uh your . . . Dog? Yeah, dog, Loki . . . I'm real sorry, but-" I stopped him in mid sentence. "What happened?" I demanded.  
  
He looked down. "I don't know what happened. There was this screeching, and then he just stopped moving . . ." I stopped breathing for a moment. I had killed Loki with the Psychic Blast. Suddenly, I felt weak and foolish. What if others had been near by? Why hadn't I tried harder to control the Blast?. But then I thought about Meta Knight, and how he had coaxed me into it . . .  
  
I just couldn't think about it right then. "Let's head back to camp." I told Cinsta blandly. He nodded, looking slightly guilty. "It's Okay," I told him. "None of this was your fault . . ." And even though it really WASN'T his fault, neither one of us knew what awaited us back at the base.  
  
I pushed back a bush, shouting a greeting. Cinsta was laughing at something I'd just said a second ago. We both stopped upon entering the clearing. Everything was covered in blood!  
  
(The Dried Blood had already been naturally purged of the death Plague. The disease wasn't built to live in dead flesh . . .)  
  
For a moment, I thought this was the site of some horrifically violent Massacre. But no one seemed all that hurt. Cinsta leaned over one body to examine it: it was that of a crewmember I recognized from a meal only days earlier. His neck was swollen horribly. His white, yet veiny, eyes bulged from their sockets, and his swollen tongue poked out from between his lips. Dried, bloody spit covered his chin. I looked around. Various examples of the same scenario surrounded us. Many of the bodies were already beginning to stink. Then suddenly, a glint of Sapphire hair stained red, caught my eye. Masadona!  
  
"MASADONA!" I screamed. I rushed to her side. A huge chunk of flesh had been torn from her throat, but there was no blood. A couple of wires poked out of her neck. The fleshy side of her throat was lopsidedly swollen though. I held my hand in front of her mouth and nostrils to test her breathing. There was none. I felt her wrists for a non-existent pulse. I kept calling her name, as though I could I could bring her back, as though I could wake her up. I probably would have stayed there cradling her head much longer, full of despair . . . had it not been for Cinsta.  
  
"Ma-ma-m-magnum . . ." He stammered. I gently laid Masadona's head against a small rock, and turned to him slowly. "What is it?" I asked bitterly.  
  
"I-i-i-it . . ." He choked. "What is it?!" I shouted impatiently. He thrust his arm at the sky, pointing a shaking hand. I followed his gaze towards the sky. "What the Hell?" I gasped.  
  
Descending into the clearing was a giant, glowing, Dragon. I shivered with what was either fear or awe. Her gargantuan eyes stared down at us, full of wisdom. I was very sure it was a SHE. She landed softly on the ground in front of me. I was about the size of one large, clawed foot. She lowered her head to my height, and gazed into my eyes for several minutes.  
  
"You, are Magnum." She said, nothing but a comment. I sucked in my breath. She had spoken not only aloud, but also within my head.  
  
"You, are this generation's Star Champion. And so it is YOU whom has to make the choice." I paused, wondering if I should really talk back. I had no idea who she was! "What choice?" I asked tentatively. She blew hot air from her nostrils, blasting my hair back. "Life, and death." She whispered slowly.  
  
"This chapter of the war has just finished . . . but another will begin. That is how it has been, and how it will be for eons to come. There must always be a balance between good and evil, right and wrong, the light and the dark . . . and wars maintain this balance. Without the balance, the universe as we know it would soon fall apart at the seams."  
  
She paused, and I saw Cinsta shaking in the corner of my eye. She seemed to notice him also, but she paid no attention. "I am Sweet Dreams, one of the greater powers of good. You, Magnum, are one of the elite: whether you know it or not, you are only a few powers below me on your side of the scale. One of the few, great star warriors. Unfortunately, you are also one of the last. In past millennia, there were millions of Star Warriors . . . but now there are but at most, 300 . . . spread across space. This," she said calmly, waving her massive tail over the clearing, "was a slaughter. I, BEING Sweet Dreams, the creator and keeper of the spirits of Star Warriors born: Keeper of the Balance Of the Light: and slave to the destiny of all, have seen an imbalance. And YOU, being the star warrior Champion, must bring the balance back into order. Do you understand everything I've just told you, Magnum?"  
  
I nodded unsurely. "Good." She said. "To bring the balance into order again, all you need to do is pick 5, and only 5, warriors who lay dead in this clearing, to bring back to life. Any more would further upset the balance."  
  
Five names popped instantly into my head, both family and friends, but Sweet Dreams seemed to know what I was thinking.  
  
"No, Magnum." She told me. "They can't just be anyone. They have to be ESSENTIAL to the balance. Though I know who would be the best 5 to awaken, YOU must make the choice." I gazed around.  
  
"Sorry, Aunt Tiffany . . ." I whispered under my breath. "The first one, will be . . ." Sweet Dreams waited for me to continue without any clear emotions. " . . . Marthen." She nodded. "The second, Brutus, the Third . . . " I paused, and looked up at her. "What was the name of the weapons technician?" She smiled without any answer, and nodded again. I felt a slight bit of her approval sweep my mind. She was a very strong Telepath. I continued.  
  
"The fourth . . . Masadona." Sweet Dreams seemed unsurprised. And then I realized I couldn't think of a fifth. Sweet Dreams easily saw my indecision, and whispered to me, her giant maw directly beside my head. "Anyone dead within this clearing may be brought back to living. Anyone . . ." I still couldn't think of a fifth. She smiled wider, revealing 2 rows of sword-like teeth. "Magnum, take this . . ." she opened her mouth, and her giant tongue rolled out. Resting on it was a small blue orb.  
  
I took it, and held it tight. "Keep it." She told me. "In later years, it will resurrect the fifth spirit. Your job is done, Magnum. You have done well. Just protect the orb, and do your best to raise more warriors . . ." She turned as if to leave.  
  
"Wait!" I cried. The blue of the Orb had reminded me of my teacher. She knew my thoughts, and raised a clawed hand. A pale light floated in her palm. "This is him, Magnum. And I'm sorry, but you couldn't possibly feel as I do how glad he is to finally pass on." I understood. The mist disappeared. She turned back to me, and suddenly sniffed. Her eyes widened, and she sniffed harder. She didn't say anything, but caught a sliver of her thoughts. ("-ark Matter?") She whispered.  
  
"Magnum," she murmured. "Be careful." And she was quite suddenly gone. Cinsta stared open mouthed at me, his eyes as wide as tea saucers. Around us, 4 of the dead bodies began to stir with life . . . Masadona turned to me. "Magnum?"  
  
(And so the second in the saga begins! For those of you who might not have recognized it from the title, this particular fan Fiction is the sequel to the story "The Later Ages." As my disclaimer, I simply state this: I own no character or item OR title in this story or the last that has appeared in any Kirby Cartoon, Comic, Game, etc. Also, I don't own the character "Sweet Dream." For the whole story and the description on Sweet Dreams, contact Nini Phelen and read the fan Fiction "The Meta Journey Chronicles" (As an after though, thanks for the permission to use SM in my fiction, Neiyoko). For the entire story connected to this particular sequel, click on my name and choose the story "The Later Ages." Thanks for reading my pitiful, extremely boring, badly needs help, work! Please review, [and tell me if your confused. I like that. Thanks!]) 


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